COLUMBUS, Ohio – There were flashy glove swipes throughout
Mitch Benson's career-high 44-save performance at No. 6/7 Ohio State, but the Colgate men's hockey program was unable to crack onto the board at the other end of the ice on Saturday evening. Behind the Buckeyes quick start, the Raiders fell 3-0 in the final nonconference game of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Ohio State came out of the gate ready to attack and scored just 16 seconds after the drop of the puck. Although Benson made the initial save, the puck was chopped out of the air for the rebound and early lead for the home team.
As Colgate looked to respond, it had a solid chance as
Ross Craig passed the puck off to
Jared Cockrell with space at the blue line before it was buried in the gut of the goalie. The Raiders persistently looked to build momentum through the period, as
Jacob Panetta had another shot snuffed out by a flaring glove, before heading onto the first man advantage of the night.
As the tensions on the ice rose, overlapping penalties and battles for possession continued through the period. Although the Raiders gained possession time behind a 14-4 mark in the circle, led by
Josh McKechney going 7-for-7 in his faceoff attempts, they wouldn't find the twine in the opening 20:00.
Midway through regulation, Colgate was able to produce a fast-paced power play after Ohio State was cited for cross-checking, but despite the Raiders' efforts the player returned with no damage done.
As the clock eclipsed halfway,
Bobby McMann streaked down the sheet for a shorthanded breakaway opportunity that again, was unable to crack Colgate onto the board. It would be a pattern that would repeat for the Raiders as
Ben Sharf received a feed up the boards before a rebound crept through the crease to still not find the back of the net.
In a narrow game Benson kept it a one-goal game heading into the final 20:00 as he made a big glove save at the horn. The sophomore returned to the ice with another stellar glove save early in the third, but Ohio State would score just 1:19 in to gain a 2-0 edge with a long shot through traffic.
As the clock ticked down and Colgate looked to build momentum to tie,
Paul McAvoy made a sweeping attempt at the net. Although the Raiders continued to shift plays north on the sheet, the game was decided when McMann delivered a big open ice hit.
With the major penalty call coming with 4:34 remaining in regulation, Colgate played a man down for the rest of the night. As much as the Raiders attempted to find the back of the net all night, Ohio State was the one to score once more as the Buckeyes added a power play tally behind the call for a 3-0 final and the weekend sweep.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• Sophomore goaltender
Mitch Benson posted a career-high of 44 saves against the nationally ranked opponent, in his first start since Nov. 22 against Princeton. The number surpasses his previous best of 41 earned in the 3-2 overtime win at Cornell (Jan. 26, 2019).
• Effective in the circle, junior
Josh McKechney finished the night out 15-for-19 in his faceoff attempts.
• Behind a season-high of five shots on goal, senior
Jared Cockrell led the Raiders on their way to 25 shots on goal.
• A competitive opening slate, nine of Colgate's games have been against nationally ranked opponents, where Ohio State's No. 6/7 rating was its top competitor.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• No. 6/7 Ohio State 3, Colgate 0
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate holds a 7-9-4 record, and a 5-2-1 mark in ECAC Hockey action.
• No. 6/7 Ohio State is 12-4-2 overall on the season and is 6-3-1 in Big Ten play.
HEAD COACH DON VAUGHAN'S TAKE
"We ran out of gas tonight but we still tried to make a game of it. To start the way we did was really disappointing, especially on a weird goal. It's a hard way to start out a game, especially on the road, but we responded and we had our opportunities.
"We had a couple breakaways but our power play needs to improve. It can be the difference in a game and tonight it could have gotten us back in this one. It's an area that has been our Achilles heel all season long, and we've got to find a way to fix that.
"I thought we worked hard for most of the night against a good team on the road, but clearly their top line was excellent again tonight. Overall we are alright, we still had a lot of good out there and we're going to be fine."
UP NEXT
Colgate returns to ECAC Hockey action in the new year, as it travels to Union and RPI on Jan. 10-11, respectively. Following a bye week, the Raiders will then return to Class of 1965 Arena for the first time in two months when they host Harvard and Dartmouth Jan. 24-25.
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate men's hockey program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateMIH and Instagram at colgate_mih.
